liberty and security – aircraft security policy

The world today faces its biggest threat from terrorism , much of it from specific groups of Islamic militants who have assumed a pan global identity and achieved very superior skills in being able to strike at distant targets in extremely hostile territory

The horrific attacks of September 11 at New York , followed by the bombings of Madrid , London , Bali and Mumbai are all evidence of the tremendous firepower and organizational ability of the terrorist organizations . The recent foiling of the terror plot in London , where the British police were able [banner_entry_middle]

to apprehend a brilliantly conceived plot to blow up ten airliners in mid air revealed the vulnerability of peace loving world citizens to such attacks . The targeting of aircraft and airports by terrorists as ideal targets for planned attacks resulted in the adoption of extensive and far-reaching precautions to safeguard the property and lives of fliers as well as service providers . Many of these precautionary policies are extremely inconvenient and sometimes unjust and unfair to fliers

In the recent past , there has been a great amount of debate over the validity and requirement of these security policies and measures especially those that impinge on personal liberty and freedom , in the media and on the internet . The object of this research assignment is two fold , first to attempt to analyze the various thought processes and causal factors behind the implementation of these security measures and second , to try to understand the concerns of citizens who feel that the cause of the greater war against terrorism is overriding their personal liberties , in to arrive at a researched and thought out conclusion

Contents

Serial Page

1 . Introduction 3

Background 3

Research Objective 4

2 Literature Review 5

September 11 and August 10 5

The Aftermath 7

Personal Liberties and Freedoms 11

3 Analysis 13

4 Summary and Conclusion 15

References 17 1 . Introduction

Background

As the working day began on September 11 , 2001 , a sequence of episodes happening in quick succession , changed the very concept of freedom and security among modern day citizens of fee democracies

At 0845 hours (ETD , an American Airlines passenger jet , Flight 11 which had taken off from Boston Massachusetts , came , literally out of the blue , and crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center gouging out a huge hole and setting it on fire . Terrorists , who owed allegiance to the Al Qaeeda , an Islamic militant group and its Afghanistan based leader , Osama Bin Laden , had hijacked the plane . This was the beginning of one of the most traumatic days in world history since the end of the World War . During the next 90 minutes , two other planes , hijacked under similar conditions , flew into different targets the south tower of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon . The last of the four hijacked planes crashed in Somerset County , southeast of Pittsburgh at1010 a .m (Chronology of Terror , 2001 ) Both the north and south towers of the World Trade Center collapsed into heaps of rubble and a portion of the Pentagon fell down . Estimates of the of people killed amounted to about 2800 , a figure that holds good even today

The happenings of September 11 affected the path of history , led to the demolition of Taliban ruled Afghanistan and to a great extent constructed the mind set for the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein and the occupation of Iraq . Apart from the instigation of conflict on a global scale , the invasion /occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and a concerted effort against global terrorism , the September 11 attacks also highlighted the immense vulnerability of airline passengers and the need to increase airport and aircraft security

Research Objective

The fifth anniversary of September 11 happened a month ago . In these five years , while there have been no repeat terrorist attacks inside the United States , episodes continue to happen in other parts of the world The bombings in Madrid , London and Mumbai bring home the fact that terrorist threats continue unabated . Aircraft have always been favourite targets for terrorist strikes , the most recent episode being the foiled London plot of early August , when militants planned to take liquid explosives aboard a number of flights headed for the United States and detonate them in mid-air

The sheer audacity of the plan and its near success succeeded in terrorizing the world as never before . Airline authorities , airport staff , anti-terror organizations and citizens realized their vulnerability in the face of such brilliantly conceived fanatical plans all major airlines and airport authorities responded immediately by tightening security regulations and procedures . Travellers felt many of these procedures to be unnecessarily draconian and an infringement of their personal liberty , especially as there were a number of media reports in the weeks succeeding August 10 of aggressive airport staff racial profiling and arbitrary unloading of passengers . The boisterous revelry of a group of Indian businesspersons led to a Northwest flight having to return to Schiphol under F 14 escort with the exporters having to spend some time in solitary cells before the indignation of the Indian government led to their release by some very red faced Dutch authorities

It is the objective of this research to analyze the logic and sustainability of stringent aircraft security regulations and the arguments of travellers who do not wish personal liberties to be taken away on account of collective paranoia over security . The researcher wishes to point out that the contemporaneous sensitivity of the renders objective impassivity in the research subject very difficult Sincere efforts , have hopefully , ensured representation to all facets of the issue . The bibliography lists all sources used , text and on line

2 . Literature Review

This research assignment makes use of secondary material in the form of texts , journals and magazine articles as well as internet sources for purposes of data availability , analysis and investigation . Use of online libraries like Questia has been liberal . The researcher prefers to take up s for discussion sequentially and use inputs from a number of sources rather than deal with the sources and their authors separately for the sake of logical progression of ideas and cohesion of thought

September11 and August 10

The colossal tightening of aircraft security is due to two incidents which occurred five years apart , in the two cities that symbolize western domination of the world , London and New York

September 11 was without doubt a defining moment in history , an event that brought home the evils of terrorism to the American people and united humanity in the war against terror . The simplest journalistic accounts of the attacks are to be found in the archives of CNN and the electronic pages of Wikipedia , which with a straightforward no frills narration of events convey the chilling sequence of events more eloquently than reams of prose can ever do . The unique range and complexity of the aftermath . illustrated by the CNN website , which . reported daily on various activities connected with a ) the investigation of the terrorist incidents , b ) retaliation , and c recovery (Rubin and Renta-Tanali , 2001 ) The September 11 , 2001 attacks (now better known as 9 /11 ) consisted of a series of pre planned suicidal terrorist strikes , predominantly against civilians

That Tuesday morning , 19 terrorists divided themselves into 4 teams and hijacked 4 commercial jets after they took off from civilian airfields in and around Boston . The flights hijacked were American Airlines Flight 11 , United Airlines Flight 175 , American Airlines Flight 77 and United Airlines Flight 93 . Each team of hijackers had a trained pilot . Two of the jets crashed into the twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , the first into the north tower , the second into the south With jet fuel capacities of nearly 24 ,000 U .S . gallons (91 ,000 liters or 144 ,000 pounds (65 ,455 kilograms , each aircraft effectively became an incendiary guidedmissile (Schelke 2001 ) Both towers collapsed within two hours , before it turned 11 on the east coast changing forever the outline of the city . The third plane was flown into the Pentagon , the Headquarters of the American military establishment and the fourth crashed into a field in rural Somerset the plans of the hijackers aborted by the heroic resistance of the crew and passengers of the aircraft . No one survived in any of the aircraft

The fatalities were in the thousands , with 2976 people killed , including 246 on the four planes , 2605 in New York City in the towers and on the ground , and 125 at the Pentagon . Among the fatalities were 343 New York City Fire Department firefighters , 23 New York City Police Department officers , and 37 Port Authority police officers (Schelke 2001

In addition the the 110 floor Twin Towers of the World Trade Center itself , five other buildings at the site , including 7 , World Trade Center , the Marriott Hotel and four subway stations were destroyed or badly damaged and all seven buildings of the World Trade Center complex had to be demolished . The Deutsche Bank building , across the street from the WTC had to be demolished as well , some time later . A portion of the Pentagon , hit by American Airlines Flight 77 also collapsed

Billions of dollars worth of man-made assets were demolished , as millions , including the researcher watched the disaster unfold on television . The coming of the second plane , the impact on the south tower , people jumping off the upper stories , the visual impact of the unravelling catastrophe will remain etched in the memory of millions of viewers

On August 10 , 2006 , British police carried out raids in London Birmingham and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and arrested 25 men suspected ot plotting to blow up ten transatlantic jets en route from the UK to the US .The arrests were made just as the men had decided to put the plan into action . The militants had allegedlly plotted to use liquid explosives , smuggled in various harmless looking containers in their hand baggages . Information obtained sugeests that the explosives used were to be peroxide based , e .g , triacetone triperoxide HYPERLINK “http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /TATP ” \o “TATP ” TATP ) and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine ( HYPERLINK “http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /HMTD ” \o “HMTD ” HMTD ) and could be detonated by heat , shock or friction (2006 transatlantic plot . Media reports stated that airplanes belonging to American Airlines , British Airways , Continental Airlines and United Airlines leaving from Heathrow and Gatwick , headed for a number of cities in the US had been targeted for on board explosion

The Aftermath

Coming on the heels of the Bali , Madrid , London and Mumbai bombings the London plot sent shock waves across the world with ailrlines and airports suddenly clamping down enormous security restrictions on all travellers . September 11 had caused a a huge paradigm shift in security considerations

The US responded to the 9 /11 disaster on many fronts

One of them was the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS . The President reasoned in his address that hundreds of agencies were handling the security of the United States and many of them did not know what the others were doing . The White House thus wanted all security functions under one roof . The DHS was established on September 25 , 2002 , a year after 9 /11 happened . The Act was passed on January 24 2003 and the DHS became the third largest department in the United States , just behind the departments of defense and veteran affairs . The department was created from 22 existing federal agencies and had a staff of approximately 183 ,000 employees and a budget of 36 .5 billion USD in 2004 . Presumably both these figures have gone up by now (Branscombe 2002

On September 27 , two weeks after the attacks President Bush unveiled his new plans for enhancing flight security . The salient points of his address , listed below , indicated a very sharp tightening of seat belts

Placing all phases of airport and aircraft security , including passenger and baggage inspection under the control of the federal government

Pass legislation allowing the FAA to create regulations providing tougher standards for all areas of airport and aircraft security

Provide funds to compensate state governments for use of National Guard personnel to patrol airports

Provide assistance to airports having problems meeting new security standards

Make 500 million in grants available to the airline industry for development and deployment of advanced cockpit security measures including reinforced and lock doors , advanced electronics for monitoring the status of flights in progress and development of technology allowing ground controllers to take control of endangered aircraft , even landing them safely under remote control

Prior to 1987 , pilots of U .S . commercial aircraft had the option of being armed while in the cockpit . The FAA revoked the privilege in 1987 by placing pilots and flight crews under the same pre-boarding screening procedures as passengers (Longley , 2001

The formation of the DHS led to increase in security across a broad spectrum with air travel and immigration , which again happens mostly through air travel , becoming focal points for up gradation . Security checks , body searches , baggage x rays , sniffer dogs , beard phobia and racial profiling became common , not just in the US but across the world The common perception of terrorism being associated with Islam and the Muslim identity of the 9 /11 attackers inevitably led to travellers , who had Muslim names , being subjected to far more severe checks , practically discriminatory in nature

Tighter security restrictions in Britain and most other countries meant that airline travellers had to undergo detailed scrutiny , wide-eyed and speculative appraisals , uncomfortable questions , electronic scanners metal detectors , body searches , documentation enquiries and baggage checks wherever they went , international or domestic , short flights or long . The plot of August 10 added another massive increase in security measures . The huge media story and endless speculation on TV about the ramifications of the conspiracy led to a number of false alarms as well as racist and xenophobic reactions . Harmless passengers had to get off planes because of judgmental apprehensions an earlier section recounts the travails of the hapless Indian exporters at Schiphol Airport . The additional security measures at Heathrow , where the security threat was critical , included prohibition of hand baggage and water bottles Critical journey items needed to be in transparent plastic bags to enable simple viewing and milk for infants required tasting by mothers in front of security guards

The proponents of enhanced security were convinced about the measures and considering the enormity of the threat most newss appeared to agree . The London media covered the episode for days and in this alarmist scenario , there were few takers for people who talked about loss of liberty . There is no doubt that freedom needs active protection As such , strong countermeasures to potential threats to freedom and liberty are essential to ensure that people can travel without fear to their destinations

Terrorist attacks also affected , very significantly , the world tourism industry . The September 11 attacks hurt tourism , globally the number one business in terms of turnover , geographical spread and employment very badly . A report of the International Labour Office (Facts on the Hotel Catering and Tourism Industry 2006 ) states that some nine million workers in the global hotel and tourism economy may have lost their jobs in the wake of September 11 and the economic downturn in 2001-2002 . The World Tourism and Travel Council (Travel and Tourism after September 11 2002 ) also stated as follows

According to WTTC Tourism Satellite Accounting (Travel and Tourism after September 11 2002 , research , prepared by Oxford Economic Forecasting , global demand for Travel Tourism fell by 4 .4 per cent (net revenue ) in 2001 and will fall by a further 3 .0 per cent in 2002 compared to our earlier forecasts . This resulted in an estimated decline in productivity equivalent to the loss of 10 .5 million jobs over the two years (Travel and Tourism after September 11 2002

Few countries escaped the impact of the terrorist attacks on America While most nations were affected by the transcontinental plunge in tourism , the worst affected were obviously those heavily dependent on tourism revenues . Few escaped the impact of the terrorist attacks on America . The deeply disturbed world tourism industry also put all its organizational powers at work at local and international levels to push for greater security measures

Personal Liberty and Freedom

The necessity for ensuring citizen safety lies primarily with the state and there is an inescapable logic in the bureuacracy ‘s argument that the safety measures being prescribed are not of their willful choice and making . These decisions have been thrust upon them by the actions of enemies of freedom and liberty and by taking these measures , however inconvenient , they are merely doing their duty . The debate on security necessities vis a vis personal liberties is going to continue and dissent is expected in free world democracies . Public debate is conducted these days , through on line blogs , and the researcher has taken the liberty to quote a few blogger responses from one of these bloggers ‘ areas

Chemical detectors may provide , by the way , the greatest advance in counter-insurgent capabilities . Biochips will make it possible for self-directed UAVS to seek out explosives , including those used in small arms , and chemical and biological agents . They will also enable the identification and tracking of thousands or even millions of individuals in a monitored area based on their “smell

If you address a distributed threat such as terrorism by tightening and establishing centrally imposed and managed security , you will produce a sense of false security and ‘crowd out ‘ the only distributed security – the individual and in the society

Many of the security measures we encounter on a daily basis aim pinpoint the bad guys by treating everyone as a suspect . The Department of Homeland Security counts on technology to come to our rescue : databases to track suspected terrorists , facial recognition to spot them in airports , artificial intelligence to anticipate plots before they unfold . But that creates a problem similar to the one you see when airport security screeners waste their time frisking false alarms Terrorists are so rare that any individual lead is almost certainly a false one . So billions of dollars are wasted with no assurance that any terrorist will be caught . When an airport screener confiscates a pocketknife from an innocent person , security has failed

Security always involves compromises . As a society , we can have as much protection as we want , as long as we ‘re willing to sacrifice the money time , convenience , and liberties to get it . Unfortunately , most of the government ‘s measures are bad trade-offs : They require significant sacrifices without providing additional safety in return . And there ‘s far too much “security theater ” – ways of making people feel safer without actually improving anything

The US at least has to understand that for a number of years we will have to face conflicts between liberty and security that did not occur before . We really did have people who were legally in the United States training in aircraft simulators to work out how to kill thousands of Americans . There really were terrorist cells in places like Lackawanna Pennsylvania (White Rose , 2006

The contents of the above pieces written by various citizens underline the anguish that normal people undergo in the tight squeeze between the cruel and uncaring menace of global terrorism and the heartless and studiedly efficient responses of the state apparatchik . There is an inescapable and growing feeling that most state responses are knee jerk in nature and impractical to sustain for long periods

3 . Analysis

The world is going through extremely troubled times . Islamic assertion on a global scale has led to an enormous rise in Islamic militancy which today is the most significant global threat . There are a number of other revolutionary outfits in localized pockets . The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka , the Maoists in Nepal and India ‘s tribal tracts , the Basque revolutionaries of Spain are all capable of committing acts of terror against innocent civilians . Nevertheless , groups like Al Qaeeda Hezbollah and other Islamic militant organizations pose the most dangerous security threat to citizens of democratic countries . These groups have achieved significantly high skill levels and a pan global infrastructure that allows them to carry out sophisticated and demoniacal strikes , far away from their natural habitat and deep inside countries that perceive them to be criminals and state enemies

The danger is very real . The fact that these terrorists are able to strike at spots where they can maximize casualties and provoke horror outrage and media reaction on a global scale is now accepted . The possibility that these targets will most commonly be geographically located in nations perceived to be enemies of Islam , e .g , The US , the UK , some countries of the west , Zionist Israel and Hindu India , is also very high . Aircraft and airlines are extremely vulnerable because of many factors . The hustle and bustle , constant movement and dense traffic at airports as well as the intrinsic vulnerability of aircraft in flight make them ideal targets . Targeting aircraft again makes eminent sense for terrorists as aviation strikes also directly affect the tourism business . Tourism is the world ‘s largest business , and with 10 of the world being dependent upon it for their earnings , it becomes imperative for governments and business not to allow terrorism to intimidate travellers from flying for pleasure and obviously respond with tighter aircraft security

The advocates for liberty have no dispute with the necessity for safety They understand , as does every other responsible citizen of the free world , the need for freedom and the necessity to have the liberty to travel at will . Their concern focuses on the basic nature of some of the measures implemented for the sake of security and their actual worth in actually being able to combat terrorism . The extra measures implemented at airports also result in much longer queues and prohibition on seemingly harmless items like I Pods and minor electronic equipment Considering the demands upon time in the fast-paced lives that people lead , every extra half hour of delay brings frustration and resentment

One of the most sensitive issues concerns racial profiling . There are many who question the wisdom of being suspicious of people only because of their origin and , furthermore , feel that such an attitude may well cause resentment and a development of sympathy for the terrorist cause

Three days before last week ‘s arrests , the highest-ranking Muslim police officer in Britain gave warning that profiling techniques based on physical appearance were already causing anger and mistrust among young Muslims . Tarique Ghaffur , an assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police , said : We must think long and hard about the causal factors of anger and resentment (Muslims face extra airport checks , 2006

The issue of subjecting old women , pregnant mothers and young adolescents to the same restrictions as other fliers also upsets a number of people and doubts about the effectiveness or need for such strategies appear to be extremely valid . The rule requiring mothers to taste the milk they need to carry for their infants , as well as the prohibition on taking water on board aircraft appears to be insensitive and an extremely unthinking and bureaucratic response to the possibility of militants carrying liquid explosives

All boarding counters of airline companies these days ask passengers for identification s , even for domestic flights . Passengers without identification can board aircraft only after they agree to a complete physical check of their baggage . Many people find this to be intrusive of privacy . John Gilmore of the Libertarian Party has in this connexion d a lawsuit against officials of the US government and two airline companies

According to Gilmore ‘s lawsuit , the ID regulation is unconstitutional because it is unpublished requires government agents to search and seize citizens who are not suspected of crimes burdens the rights to travel , associate , and petition the government and discriminates against those who choose anonymity

If we knew who the terrorists were , we could just arrest them all rather than stopping them when they try to fly ” he said “There are many ways to deter terrorism , but checking IDs against a watch list is not one of them . It is an exercise in futility that provides a false sense of security

“People in the U .S . have a right to travel and associate without being monitored or stopped by their government , unless they are actually suspected or convicted of a crime , and unless that suspicion is reasonable ” said Gilmore (Advocates for Self Government , 2006

In a similar move computer programs in the US locate people boarding airplanes with one-way tickets for checks y security agencies . This information is widely known and obviously , sensible terrorists would be able to circumvent this check by investing in return tickets if they needed to escape detection . Extra security measures like these and the others in place end up costing a great amount of money because of delayed flight schedules , extra labor and other overhead costs . For example , a disproportionate share-65 percent-of the funds spent on homeland security in the United States goes toward aviation security alone , leaving many fewer resources for measures at the ports , bs and on mass transit (Eland , 2005 ) The government has thus actually started considering whether it is necessary to stop people from carrying tweezers and nail clippers on board aircraft and whether it makes any sense to continue at all with rules like these that were quite ludicrous in the first place

Citizens and passengers do not appear to be against aviation security measures . Their concern and ire rests with the inappropriateness of the chosen measures and the lack of thought and planning that appears to have gone into their formulation and implementation . Many of these measures are quite pointless and apart from causing a great deal of inconvenience and personal embarrassments do not contribute to improving security at all

4 . Summary and Conclusion

The war on terrorism has many facets . Some of these are overtly aggressive like the wars in Afghanistan and the Iraq , the taming of Libyan leader Gaddafi as well as the hunt for Osama bin Laden . Some are again inherently defensive and involve the guarding of vital installations as well as the protection of citizens while they are engaged in their daily life . Both of these functions are essential and will continue for years , in what appears to be just the preliminary stage of a long conflict

The protection of aircraft , airports and flying passengers are necessary defensive strategies that will need implementation with foresight thought and care . These must necessarily include the investigation of every possible avenue as well as the adoption of measures that would appear to be logically necessary . The prevention of terrorist caused mishaps in the United States after September 11 , as well as the foiling of the London plot is indicative of the significant successes achieved by the governments of the USA and the UK in protecting their citizens from dastardly crimes . It is but right that citizens appreciate these happenings and realize that many of the measures adopted are yielding results . In contrast , we have the example of Mumbai where terrorist attacks have happened with regularity over the last ten years and the civil administration and police appear helpless in stopping the tide of violence

In free democracies , popular opinion and the media will always have views on the correctness , or otherwise , of measures adopted by the government and , furthermore , on many occasions these will be very valid In times of emergencies and grave national threat there is always the danger of people in governance to assume mindsets of supreme knowledge and this is where the danger lies . If governments and regulatory bodies listen to the concerns of citizens with sensitivity and openness , most of these conflicts will melt away and it will be possible to fight the terrorists with unity . Governments , regulatory authorities , citizens action groups and the media will be then able to join hands to rid the world of the terrorist threat